Bright Grass
by bunny500
Summary: Ancient artifacts are on the loose, and the yu yu hakusho gang goes over to stay with Kurama's cousin Jack S. in order to investigate. no pairings yet rated T only for safety
1. Chapter 1

Jack rolled around in bed for a while, planning to get a little more shuteye before morning, then gave up, knowing his own insomniac ways. He shoved the blankets off roughly, having the knowledge that he wouldn't leave the warmth they had otherwise, and shivered for a moment.

Getting up from the bed was the hardest part in the morning, his muscles always seemed to ache from bruises and cuts not yet healed away, courtesy of the _absolutely wonderful_ Xiaolin monks.

He stood, then stretched, hearing his joints pop painfully, giving out a loud yawn, and heading towards the bathroom to get ready for the day, making sure to grab a new, clean outfit.

He took a fast, cold shower (he didn't know how anyone could stand heat being dumped on their back, he didn't know why, but he hated his back being touched or heated in any way). Then he threw on his outfit, a tight, black tank top, matching tight, black jeans, his totally awesome coat, socks, and boots.

As he went down the steps of his second story room, towards his lair of absolute evil, he began pondering previous events, and ways he could improve his chances of winning. So deep in his thoughts, he almost missed the note left on the kitchen counter, and would have if he hadn't stopped to get his usual breakfast.

Chewing serenely on his nutty-nut bar, he saw the little, obnoxiously bright pink colored note, clashing awfully with the pearly granite, and grabbed it, wondering if it was from his ignorant parents.

It was, not that he was surprised, no one got in here without security's say-so. No, that was not what startled him, the message is what had done it:

_Dear jacky-bear,_

_Your cousin, Shuichi, will be coming over for a while from Japan, as well as a few of his little friends, I'm not sure how long they'll be over, though they'll come tomorrow, please take good care of them!_

_Love, _

_Mom xoxoxoxoxoxo!_

**. . .**

**. . .**

What...?

The nut-bar's small remains dropped to the ground, breaking his small moment of silence with a clear, almost ringing _–plop-._

With that he came out of shock, and decided it would be a reasonable wish to want to bang his head on a brick wall right now.

This was just like his parents! Giving him only a days warning! And then the idiots hadn't event told him how many people were coming!

A resonating beeping forced him out of his annoyed thoughts, he sighed, grabbing his heli-pack, and left on another fruitless attempt to gain a shen-gong-wu.

-.-.--)_)_)0..=)=DXD

Kurama sighed, waiting for his cousin to come and get them from the airport, Yusuke and Kuwabara were already getting restless (a _very_ bad thing in an over-populated area, and Hiei was glaring darkly at the ground, still angry about having to use inferior _ningen _technology(or as Hiei fondly put it 'metal deathtraps not meant to fly') to get here.

He thought back to what had lead to this point, why they had gone all off to China.

-flashybackflashbackflashback-

_Koenma peeked over his too-big desk, a grim expression on his chubby little face, and he took a moment to examine them all individually. "This mission is very important!" his childlike voice boomed in its own unnatural way, not that anyone seemed to notice, "There are dangerous artifacts on the loose, that could release an ancient demon, and could very-well lead to the end of life as we know it, being handled like toys by mere children!"_

_If anyone had suspected anything, it was most certainly not that, and silence rung in deep bells. Koenma didn't seem to notice, and continued, "These children are on the right side, and are martial artists, but they don't even begin to understand the items true power, if this goes on, it could mean the end of us all."_

_Kuwabara seemed to find his voice first, "So what're we gonna' do about it?" he asked, Koenma was quick to answer, "I'm sending you all to China, where they are, of course!"_

_Yusuke had protested for a while before giving in, and just when they were about to leave the office Koenma gave them special translator watches, telling them it would help them out with the language, and also that they would be staying with Kurama's cousin._

-endofflashback!-

It had all gone too fast, leading to this point, but that just highlighted the importance of the mission.

=-9989&%0X3zsda=

Jack grumbled to himself, wishing he could be home making jackobots instead of at the stupid, filthy airport, the sounds of aircrafts were practically making his ears bleed!

He tried to ignore his pessimistic thoughts, in favor of thoughts about the cousin he had never met before, what he might be like, and why he was suddenly appearing in the self-proclaimed genius' life.

A flash of red hair, as startling as his own dragged at the edge of his vision, practically screaming 'look at me! Look at me, we're possible relatives!', snapping him from his musings.

He looked at the figure, surrounded by a motley group, red hair, long and flowing, shined in the summer light, green eyes a pasture of ice, his outfit was as emerald as his eyes, as if highlighting them, and his feminine figure. Jack snorted loudly, the guy looked like Christmas, he didn't want to believe they were related, but the hair was a dead give-away.

Before going to confront the older one he stopped to look them over, one-by-one.

One of them had a build similar that weird cowboy/monk guy, except he was a lot taller, his orange hair was in some weird hairstyle that Jack didn't recognize, but he supposed it looked alright on the tall guy, though his outfit was pretty-much just a carbon copy of the other guys, just bigger, and a robin egg blue.

Jack moved his eyes elsewhere, the next guy had his green-black hair slicked back with un-godly amounts of hair gel for-sure, making Jack mentally gag, his out fit was only different from the first in that it was a darker green.

The final one was small, his frame slight, and lithe, his black hair spiked and holding a blue-ish tint, and his outfit, Jack thanked god for the originality, was a black shirt and pants loose on his figure.

When Jack looked up, he realized that the other had red eyes, similar to his own, that were currently locked in on his.

In fact, they all seemed to be paying rapt attention to him...

He gulped, and decided it was about time to go introduce himself.

-.-.--)_)_)0..=)=DXD

Kuwabara stared down at Kurama's little cousin, and by little, he meant about as short as Hiei, if not a little shorter.

He was honestly surprised at the smaller one's appearance, not the boy's clothes that were black, a tank top, and jeans, pretty tight on him, but not to much so, not by his skin was white as pearls, not by his eyes and hair, a perfect, matching red, that could never be achieved if either were fake. Kuwabara didn't pay any of that much mind, he was used to unnatural stuff, but what he **was** surprised on were the cuts, still red, and bruises, purple and black, like beacons littering his skin, they worried Kuwabara, what was a harmless kid like this getting beat up like that for?

He smiled, trying to look welcoming, as the kid began to come towards them, looking nervous, and out of place. It didn't take long for him to get across the parking lot, and once in front of them the boy began to speak, "Hello," he began in fluent Japanese "I'm Jack Spicer, is one of you Shuichi?" he questioned.

~~~~_~~~~

A/N: the name needs a bit of rethinking, right =P it's called bright grass because Jack is bright in the head, and Kurama likes plants... thats what my big sis told me to name it, so if you have better title ideas tell me!

okay, some things I need to say:

when it says 'that weird cowboy/monk guy', it means Clay

when it talks about Jack being all beat up, it's because he falls multiple times in the show from hights of around 50ft, and he gets hit a lot, so in this fic he doesn't get out unscathed

thanks for reading! plz review ^u^ (but if u don't want to its alright)


	2. searches and injuries

Everyone was shocked that the boy could speak their language, so apparently shocked, they seemed to fall into a silence, and completely ignore the simple, and easy to answer question.

Jack scoffed after a few minutes of the silence, "What, do you guys not speak your own language, or something?" he half taunted, with a bit of mocking twisted in for better reactions. "It's like you've never heard anyone talk to you before" and, if he was going to rule the world, he _had_ to know all of the languages to make sure no one was insulting him behind his back.

Yusuke and Kuwabara looked vaguely irritated, Hiei rolled his eyes, and Kurama decided to answer the question, "Yes, I'm Shuichi, it's a pleasure to meet you", and extended a friendly hand.

Jack responded, looking absolutely bored, "Yeah, whatever", if he noticed Kurama's hand he didn't move to show it, and turned away, waving for them to follow him to his vehicle.

As they got in Kuwabara noticed Jack was getting in the drivers seat, and was more than a little confused, "Hey, aren't you a little young to be driving?" Jack glared at him, but it looked more like a childishly cute pout, "If I can make it, then I think I can drive it."

Every one was pretty confused, and curious about the kid, but as the mansion the boy lived in came into view they became a bit less focused on him.

=*time_skip*=

After Jack had lead them to their rooms he went downstairs to begin making dinner, having taken care of himself since he was six had _some_ advantages.

While he was doing that the others filtered into Kurama's room to begin talking about the new host, and plans to find the artifacts.

Once the doors were closed Yusuke flopped down on the bed, and began to speak, "Man, Kurama, your cousin is weird, and not our kind of weird either!" Hiei 'hn'd, and Kuwabara gave a quick nod, as if making it faster would mean not agreeing with Yusuke. Kurama looked disapprovingly at them, but reluctantly gave a nod of agreement.

"Did anyone notice how beat up he is?" asked Kuwabara, honestly concerned, Yusuke and Kurama nodded again, while Hiei just stood there, like the question wasn't worth an answer. Kurama gained a bit of a worried look, "do you think he's being bullied?" he asked, Yusuke shook his head, "Nah, the way he acts is too confident, and too careless to be from a bullied kid. I would know, I've seen quite a few." Kurama didn't seem reassured, but he nodded anyway.

Kuwabara looked thoughtful for a moment, "Do yah think that his attitude could be what is gettin' him bullied? I know if we were back home, I woulda' beat up anyone talkin' to me like that.", no one could find an appropriate answer, so Hiei shed light on a different topic.

"How old is he?" everyone stopped for a moment to think, before Yusuke took a stab at it, "He seemed around 14 to me" they all took in the information, and Hiei continued "Isn't that too young to the _ningens _to be driving, or taking care of ones self?"

Looks of shocked apprehension went around the room, and all was silent in an uncomfortable way, so they started to talk about the mission instead of Jack.

-D$%FDY%$&33dgh+#&%^~*#*_-

Jack hoped that his cousin and friends liked chicken noodle soup and mashed potatoes, because he wasn't cooking again this evening.

Now that he was done with dinner, he sent a Jack-o-bot to go fetch the others in the household. He decided that if he was going to think about them, he might as well do it now, 'they look, and act like common thugs' was the first thing that came to mind, and he almost laughed before dispelling the thought, and trying to think of another 'I don't even know any of their names besides Shuichi's'... okay, now he felt stupid.

A -_bang!_- brought him out of his thoughts with a jerk, and he ran up the stairs, where the noise had come from, to see what was going on.

When he got there, he found a pile of wrecked metal, steaming from the small explosion, and the big guy with orange hair standing above it, looking alarmed.

Jack let out a sigh of loss for the poor Jack-o-bot, and then glared at his cousin and his posse.

"Don't. Destroy. My. Jack-o-bots." He said, as if talking to someone extremely slow in mind, at their confused looks he gave another small glare, then began explaining "look, I make robots, I call this type a Jack-o-bot, _please _don't destroy any more of them, this one was just coming to tell you dinner was ready."

He then called another Jack-o-bot to clean up the metallic remains, and lead the group to the dining room.

At dinner it was obvious that Kurama and Jack were the only ones that knew how to use a fork, and that the others just followed their example, food already getting spilled on the table from poorly handled utensils.

Jack got bored with the awkward silence (there had been a lot lately) and broke it, "Could you all tell me your names?" They all seemed to blink in surprise, and then looked like they were about to start laughing from the idiocy of not remembering to do so sooner.

After a few moments of this, one of them answered, "Hiei" the one with red eyes (and who wasn't Jack) said, "Kazuma Kuwabara" the one with the weird (though not really with _this_ group) hair, "Uremeshi Yusuke" the last one. Jack blinked at the strange names, then spoke "Well, I'm Jack, as you most likely know, and there are a few rules that you guys have to follow to have a happy stay here; 1) you aren't aloud to destroy my of my jack-o-bots unless I tell you to" he stopped to throw a look at Kuwabara here(Yusuke stifled a laugh), "2) _Don't _go in the basement _ever_, 3) please don't break any of my parents _priceless_ items while you're here", and that was the end for the list of rules. He sat there for a moment to let them absorb the information, then went on to some different points " Other then that you have free roam, there's a pool outside, and also an arcade somewhere inside, you are free to grab snacks from the kitchen when you want, but I'll make all of the three meals in a day."

Kurama decided that now would be the time for question taking, "Jack, I didn't notice before,... but..." he stopped, looking embarrassed "do you wear eyeliner?" No one else had noticed either apparently, and they all looked at Jack, who looked back at them like they were weird for noticing, then replied "no, reapplying it everyday perfectly was a hassle, so I got a tattoo to make it a bit easier" okay, now **that** was a shock. Yusuke actually started to look a bit worried, and asked "how old _are _you?" Jack took a turn at being surprised, and stopped to think about it for a moment, "umm... I think I'm around 14" Kurama looked at him strangely " you _think?_" Jack shrugged mildly, "the last time I celebrated my birthday was when I was 9".

The rest of dinner was spent in painful silence, and eventually they all dispersed to go to bed, many thoughts on their minds.  
-#$G3T$%%^#t-

In the morning Jack got up around 8:00am, went through his morning rituals, and went down to prepare breakfast, deciding along the way that pancakes would be a good choice. He was only mildly surprised when he found 'Shuichi' and Hiei already at the table, both sipping tea.

Shrugging, he went to the cabinets in order to get the ingredients necessary for the meal, then got to work on the mixture.

Just as he flipped the last pancake out of the griddle, onto a plate, Kuwabara and Yusuke came down, bickering in an half asleep way about one thing or another. Jack put the plate of pancakes on the table, then went to get syrup and butter, after that was done, they all began to eat happily (except for Hiei, who was only ever mildly content).

Soon after they had eaten Jack wondered down into the basement (a jack-o-bot was doing the dishes), and the Japanese detectives went out to begin their search for the ancient artifacts (for the poor group _still_ did not know what they were called).

Their tactic was to split up and comb through the area around where they temporarily inhabited.

When the time for lunch had come Jack was no-where to be found, but warm food (steak and broccoli) was set on the table, for them to eat. They ate quickly, and were soon out searching again.

Time for dinner came fast, and they came back, with absolutely no luck.

They found Jack at the table, looking a total wreck, his hair was rumpled, with bits of mud making it clumpy, his clothes ripped in random places, a black eye, new cuts and already blue bruises littering his skin. Nonetheless, dinner, steaming roasted chicken and chopped carrots, was on the table.

They just stared, they'd had injuries worse then that on a daily basis, but they fought demons, this was just a kid!

Jack was so busy putting on bandages that he didn't notice them until Hiei made a rude sort of coughing noise.

Jacks head shot up, red eyes wide open and alert , but when he saw it was them he just let out a relieved sigh, and smiled at them, "Dinner's ready." he said humorously.

No one laughed (though Yusuke and Kuwabara both gained sort of half-smiles), Kurama was the first to say something, "Who is injuring you?"

Jack seemed to laugh (more than a bit) nervously, his normally stoic face turning shy and defensive, "N-no one's hurting me" he gave another sort-of chuckle, "umm... I just –uhh... tripped! Yeah! Down some stairs!"

It was impossible to hide it, they looked at Jack like he was a complete idiot, which they all _knew_ he wasn't, and wondered why he was behaving like one. Then Hiei sent a pointed look at Jacks muddy hair, the boys eyes followed, and he looked even more nervous, "uhh... I tripped down some stairs... outside...?"

If he was that desperate, then there had to be something going on. They decided to let Jack _think_ he had escaped suspicion, but some major stalking was in order for tomorrow.

Dinner was spent in relative peace, the group from Japan sending each other weird looks (Jack felt like they were planning against him, or something).

=lalalaalala-morning now-lalalalala=

When morning came breakfast was served (eggs and bacon, along with some toast), and consumed, but the day did not continue as the last had.

Jack went down into the basement, but the others didn't leave to search, instead they stayed in wait.

Hiei was outside, in one of the many trees, Kurama at the table drinking mint tea, Yusuke and Kuwabara hanging out in the vast back yard.

-a few hours later-

Kurama was just starting to think that his cousin wasn't going to leave at all, really, this was his 8th cup of tea.

An alarmish type of noise suddenly crashed out from the basement, ringing in his ears shrilly. If he were your ordinary person, he would've jumped clear across the room, but he was not your average Joe, and instead ducked behind the table to watch for Jack.

He watched on in slight shock as Jack hurled out of the door, a jacket, a backpack with propellers, and strange goggles added to his person, with about 15 jack-o-bots in tow.

A few moments later, after Jack popped out the door, Kurama followed, signaling to Hiei to get Yusuke and Kuwabara, and that they were on the move.

They were lead far away from their current housing, up hills, through a forest or two, until they reached a clearing in one of said forests.

There Jack halted and landed, and began to search for something, the group of four watching silently from the shadows.

A few minutes later Jack had gained a frustrated edge, his searching terser, and he didn't stop to observe areas for as long.

Jack looked like he was losing all patience when something happened to drastically change his mood.

---Lalalalalalalala^ ^-----

A/N= hi, 

So I finally updated, yeah...

Sorry it took so long (or it seemed like it took horrendously long to me), and I want to give the people that reviewed a big thanks! You guys really encouraged me to continue ^u^, love you all!

I'll try to update sooner this time (but don't get your hopes up, I'm pretty pathetic about updating...)


	3. with pain, where's the gain?

Whooooooooshhh~ The noise sounded from above, and a shadow passed above the group of wannabe stalkers, and then over a fearful looking Jack.

Jack murmured a word that no one in his age group should ever be able to utter, and Hiei felt a superior smirk grace his lips, his dragon was larger, _and_ cooler looking.

The dragon took perch on the uneven ground of the forest, leaves fluttering serenely away from its massive form.

Four juveniles leaped off its hindmost end, a strange group by most means, One of them was tall with a muscular build (though shorter than Kuwabara, he was taller than Yusuke), his blond hair brushing over his eyes, sparkling beneath his cowboy hat. Another member of this mysterious group was darkly tanned, his silky ginger hair ruffled messily, framing his round face, emerald eyes sparking with irritation, he was a little shorter than Kurama. The third member was small, _really_ small, he couldn't have been older than nine, and he could barely reach Hiei's knees, his fierce raven eyes glowed with undeserved pride, the lemony-gold color of his skin seeming to make his shaved chrome emit a blinding, slightly disturbing light. The last one was clearly a female, her inky, and slightly oily, hair put up in pigtails, her sable eyes filled with malice, she was a bit taller than Jack. All of them were donned in scarlet robes.

Jack scowled darkly at the other adolescents, his ruby eyes glistening with unmasked hatred.

"So you Xiaolin losers finally showed up, huh?" a false smirk lit his lips, an attempt to hide his anxiety at their presence.

"Oh, look, it's Jack, come back to lose _again_?" the petite girl haughtily taunted.

Yusuke twitched with irritation, who was this bimbo to treat the kid that way?

Jack let loose a soft growl, "Yeah, right, losers!" he burst, and then shrieked "Jack-o-Bots, attack!"

He took to the air, the propellers on his backpack whirring tirelessly to lift him up. He flew into the air again in his search for the unknown item, as the other assortment made quick work of the robots.

Something caught his eye, and he rushed towards it, the troop of detectives followed his flight with their eyes, seeing that he was headed toward some strange artifact hanging from a tree branch, but just as his fingers brushed it, so did the hand of the yellow one.

"Xiaolin Showdown!" they screamed in unison, " Gong Yi Tampai!"

The ground shifted beneath their feet, rumbling dangerously. "I wager my Tangle web Comb for your monkey staff!" the tiny child chimed.

Jack shouted "You're on!" in return, a vaguely insecure grin on his face.

Ground fell from underneath them, into a dark abyss.

Hiei's eyes were opened wider than usual, an amount of shock he would not usually show, Kurama's jaw hung loosely down, and Kuwabara and Yusuke seemed at the verge of cussing at the top of their lungs in shock.

New, sandy ground pushed at their feet, and rocks rose at their side, forming an arena wall.

A stand came, and lifted them so that they had a clear view of the fighting area, but couldn't really intervene.

"We fight until one of us surrenders!" the shiny-headed imp yelled.

A loud gong-ish noise echoed in the arena, signaling the beginning of the challenge.

Jack burst "Monkey staff!" his body undergoing a transformation, into some sort of mutated, human-monkey half-breed.

The smaller one hurled himself at Jack, bringing a fist up to hit at the red head.

Jack dodged out of the way, then turned, and delivered a kick, so soft that it was obvious he was holding back a lot, to the smaller ones rear end.

He skidded a minute, before jumping at Jack, punching him in the stomach a few times, then back flipping out of attack range.

Jack fumbled for a moment, but then regained his composure, and brought himself into a defensive fighting position.

"Tangle web Comb!" the bald one shouted, holding up some strange, hairclip like thing. Vines shot from his hand, extending to wrap around the staff that Jacks tail had hold of, ripping it away from the older one.

Jacks body returned to his normal form, his features twisting into a pained scowl, as he morphed to his past body.

The smaller one held up his prize, waving it cruelly at Jack "Ha, I have retrieved your weapon, do you give up now?" he taunted.

Jack growled between clenched teeth, "As if, loser!" and threw a weak punch, in a way that, again, showed he didn't mean to harm the small one.

The jaundiced one dodged the fist, and kicked out, ramming his tiny foot into the side of Jacks face.

He was sent flying, his body dragging on the ground, until his head hit a jagged rock sprouting up from the ground.

He screeched in pain, holding onto his wounded head with both hands.

The smaller one didn't seem to notice Jacks pain, smirking, "Do you give up now?" he said.

"Never!" the one on the ground shouted, and grabbed a rock, throwing it at the child, but it was not aimed to hit, it landed 2 feet away from the yellow kid.

However, the one standing seemed to sincerely think Jack had missed on accident, and gave a condescending smirk.

Jack pushed himself up unsteadily, one hand still gripping the top of his head as blood ran down past his eyes.

He stumbled up, only to be punched in the chest, and knocked down again.

It was a sad sight to behold, and the detectives felt fury bubble up from their souls.

Yusuke was confused, how had this all happened? And why would any one beat up Jack that bad, and then continue to do so after he was thoroughly beaten?

Worst of all, to him, was that on the opposite stand, where the other group was located, the tan one, and the girl were _cheering on_ this kind of behavior! It was messed up, had they even realized what they were doing to Jack, how bad they were hurting him? He should be in a hospital right now, not in a one sided beat down!

On the battlefield, the small child was getting mad at Jacks refusal to give up, and he began kicking Jack on the ground, asking between kicks "do you give up?" Jack coughed 'no' every time the question was asked.

To Yusuke and Kuwabara, this was too far! And they began pounding on the invisible barrier, yet they went unnoticed by the combatants. Hiei's eyes narrowed darkly at the happenings below, he didn't care that Jack was getting hurt, but he didn't approve of a superior beating a lesser to this point, even if the weaker one was holding back because of age or gender. Kuramas face was scarily calm; showing the imminent danger the yellow kid was in.

Down below, the child lost his temper, pointing the hairclip thing at Jack; he yelled, "Tangle web Comb!"

The vines circled around Jacks thin neck, squeezing harshly.

The yellow boy leaned in growling, "Do. You. Give. Up?" Jack didn't have the air to answer, and he gasped franticly for oxygen.

A few moments of this, and a look of horror passed over the younger ones face, as he suddenly realized what he was doing.

He stepped back, the vines receded as he did, and Jack began choking for much needed air.

Jack croaked, "I g-give...up," he stopped a moment to breath " I g-give up." the ground fell back to it's original place, shifting back into the forestry.

Tears formed, and began falling from Jacks eyes, mingling with his blood, as he tried to hide his face from the other combatant.

----

Omi's eyes brimmed with his shock and fear, he hadn't meant for Jack to get that hurt! His group surrounded him, Raimundo and Kimiko cheered his name, telling him how awesome he was, but Clay looked down at him disapprovingly, not hiding his dislike for Omi's actions.

Shame burned at Omi, he had beaten someone weaker than him to tears, and he felt like a monster. He was no better than any villain.

-=-=-

Kurama and the rest of his group jumped from the foliage, running hurriedly to Jack.

Kurama and Kuwabara kneeled at Jack's side, Yusuke and Hiei standing between their fallen comrade and the opposing group.

Kurama pulled a seedling for a healing plant from his hair, growing it quickly, and tending to his cousins wounds, Kuwabara helping when he could.

Yusuke bellowed "What the hell?!" a string of curses following.

"Do you get kicks out of abusing those weaker than you? Almost Killing them?!" The posse stared open mouthed in shock, and the girl yelled "He's a villain! We're _supposed_ to hurt jerks like him!"

Kuwabara's head popped upward "Villain, Villain?! You call some kid, who just wants some one to pay attention to him, a villain?!"

His face twisted into a scowl of contempt, "Who's to say you guys aren't the villains here?"

The girl shrieked "We're _not_ the villains here! He's the one who starts the fights!"

Yusuke saw red, rage, like hot coals, burned within him, but a cool look from Hiei was enough to get him to get his temper under control.

Hiei brought himself to his full height(though that wasn't really all that intimidating), and bared his fang-like teeth, then growled (this was for Kurama, not for Jack, he thought) "This will not occur again, Jack will no longer be harmed by you."

A shiver spontaneously passed through the group of adolescents.

The girl once again opened her mouth to argue, but the tan boy put his hand on her shoulder, shaking his head "They're a lost cause, they've already been tricked by Jack, into thinking that he needs help or something.", he shot a glare at the detectives.

Kurama felt cold fury build into his veins, and he hissed out "Tricked? You think we're tricked?" he stood, his blank face scarier than any of Hieis glares, "This is my cousin that you've brutally mistreated, _my cousin_ you could have killed today" he made a vague gesture towards Jack, laid out, unconscious on the ground. Jacks pale face had streaks of a rusty red color, evidence of his blood, a nasty blue bruise taking up the entirety of his left cheek, his hair a tangled mess, strands stuck together in places from his own blood, his neck a canvas of blacks, purples, and blues, his clothes hid the rest of him, but from injuries past mentioned, it was easy to tell he was battered.

"My cousin who you do this to daily, my cousin who has to drag himself home, my cousin who has to bandage his own wounds." He scowled, "You believe that someone who has to do all this requires no help?"

Raimundo's face turned a red color, but he still said "Why would anyone help the villain?" Kuwabara growled "Idiot, stop making excuses for yourself." he paused "Nothing you say can make it okay to do this to someone."

With that, he lifted Jack off the ground, bridal style.

=--=--

'Ugh... my head hurts like a-'

He felt arms go beneath him, and lift him up, ' Ow! That was the bruise I got on my back yesterday... jerk...'

'wait, wait just a friggin minute, who the heck is picking me up?'

He opened his eyes in a snap, 'ow! ow! the sunlight! it burns!'

He screeched a cuss at the top of his lungs, and flailed his arms, only to choke in pain from his burning throat.

'What the- ? oh right, that Omi guy strangled me...'

He blinked a few times, to adjust his eyes to the light, and then said "Whu- what's goin' o-on?" he swallowed, trying to ease the pain in his throat.

He looked up at who was carrying him "Oh, h-hi Kuwa- what's u-up?"

He saw a relieved look pass over Kuwabaras face, and decided he wasn't going to get an answer, so he looked around a bit.

'Ah, crap!' he thought, as he caught sight of the Xiaolin monks, he was to tired to hide the fear that he felt when he saw them, and gave a little shriek, before burying his face in Kuwabaras shoulder, trying to mask his expression with it.

--=---=

A look of absolute shock passed on all of the childrens faces, they had only had a glance at Jacks expression, but that was enough.

The look of horror, so deeply run, was enough to make even Kimiko want to cry.

Kuwabara gave them a pointed look, "That's what I was talking about." he said as he tightened his hold on Jack in reassurance.

=-=-=-

A/N= well, wasn't _that_ depressing...

My 2 bffs made me write this, and now we are all satisfied =) ,

and my wonderful big sis, MarzBunni, beta'd for me ^u^

I think that Clay is a little bit better than the other monks, so I write about him like I think about him, I hope no one minds, and also, please don't be offended by the Xiaolin bashing, I'm writing this from the Yu Yu Hakusho peoples' views...

jeez... poor Jack, I abuse him so... )=

I hope you like anyway, and thanks to all whom have reviewed!


	4. waking up

Kuwabara carried Jack all the way back, Kurama beside him the whole time.

They had gone hurriedly to their household, but not too fast, as not to jostle the youngest one in their misfit group.

Soon, they reached the grounds of the large home that they now took residence in. As soon as they arrived, Kurama and Kuwabara got a passed out Jack to his room, and tended his wounds.

Hiei and Yusuke departed to the vast back yard, not speaking at all to one another, and going off in different ways not long after beginning their trek. Yusuke went off to an area off to the side, and sat, letting thoughts stumble around in his head.

Hiei left the backyard completely, and off to who knows where in the forest nearby.

After a time, Kurama left the room, satisfied with his cousin's health, and went to sit at the kitchen table and drink some tea.

Kuwabara, however, stayed at Jacks bedside, waiting for the younger boy to wake.

=--==-===-

Kurama felt frustration welling within him, and he sighed huffily as he sipped his tea.

How long had those fights been going on? From Jack's face when he had seen the other group, it had been a while. Were the fights usually so cruel and brutal? Did Jack always have to take care of himself, as he had just the other day? It seemed like he would have had to, with no one else being here.

Then, Kuramas mind wandered to how exactly the battle had taken place.

How did the scenery change like that? It seemed impossible, even now. What was the big deal over that artifact? And why did they go to such a far extent to get the object? To him it seemed too much trouble to go to, even if that artifact had some sort of power.

He gave yet another sigh, he would have to wait for his cousin to awaken to get his answers.

This whole thing was rather frustrating, this was supposed to be a mission, and it still was. But, he now had a relative to look after that seemed to have a lot of trouble floating around in his life.

Another thing he had to question was the fact that Jacks parents had not noticed _any_ of this. How could they not see the various injuries inflicted upon their son? He frowned slightly as a thought entered his mind.

What if they just didn't want to? They certainly weren't here to see anything unwanted.

Disgust clamped down upon him, and he set his cup down softly, feeling vaguely ill. No parent should have behaved like this, what would happen if Jack was badly injured? He knew the answer to that. Jack would lie there and bleed to death, and he probably wouldn't even hope for the help he knew wasn't coming.

A feeling of coldness flowed within his veins, because if they had not been there for that fight, then that might just have happened to Jack. He felt the urge to shiver, but he had more control over his body than that. He picked up his tea delicately, taking a drink once more.

He didn't know his cousin all to well, but a lot of things that had occurred lately had shown that his cousin was in desperate need of caring. Maybe Kurama wasn't the right person, and maybe he didn't honestly want to take care of his cousin, but as of yet, he and his friends were the only people that could. The boy's life was in danger, whether he realized it or not, and no one cared, the only people left, the only ones that could save him from an early death were Kurama and his friends.

They could've chosen to ignore him, like everyone else seemed to. They could've pretended not to notice when he came home injured. They could've just let him die. But they hadn't, and they wouldn't now, this was a death that Kurama didn't want on his hands. To have left Jack to die would've been killing a human child, who was defenseless and alone, and Kurama knew if he did that, he wouldn't ever be able to face his mother or his friends.

-=---=_=--__-=

Jack enjoyed the realm of restfulness, he felt no pain, nothing, and he liked that. He had no wish to wake at all, as he would have to leave here.

So, as he was currently being pushed into wakefulness, it was understandable that he was putting up a fight. However, it was not to be, and his efforts were futile. He groaned as the agony leftover from the previous time he had been awake returned.

He was exhausted, to tell the truth, but he knew now that his body needed him to get up. He had obviously had another fight with those imbeciles, the pain flowing all throughout him was a pretty good indicator of that, and he would die if he didn't crawl home soon.

He pushed his eye (one of his eyes had been hit yesterday, and he had a bruise, and a swollen shut eye to show for it) open with difficulty, and tried to take in his surroundings. Everything was bleary and dark, had he really slept until the sun went down? This wasn't good; he had probably had a huge amount of blood loss or something just as bad, and that was really dangerous.

As he began to wake fully, he realized that he didn't feel the cold forest floor like he usually did upon waking, nor drenched in blood like he had expected before. He felt... warm? And, he felt pressure around the top of his head, had someone bandaged him up? He hoped he wasn't the stupid Xiaolin's charity case, that would be really aggravating.

He tried to push himself into sitting position, and fell back in pain, his head pounding. He laid for a few moments, letting the ache ebb slowly away, then tried to push himself up again, but this time more carefully, and managed it, leaning against a headboard. Okay, the idiot monks were ruled out, they didn't have beds, only weird mats, in the temple.

He shivered for a moment, and found that his head ached again; he grabbed the blanket pooled at his waist, and covered his chest up more. That seemed to work, and his headache became more muted.

He looked around, trying to figure out where he was, and, in turn, who had helped him out. It was dark, the lights were off, but some light was shed from a window, its curtains slightly ajar, and a strip of light came from it. He saw a dresser, carpeted floor, a fluffy blue comforter, green wallpaper, and he realized, with a jolt, that he was in his own room, on his own bed.

He had already felt the bandage on his head, and decided to see if he had been bandaged up anywhere else. He felt a bandage wrapped around his ribs, and some sort of substance that felt jell-like on his neck and bruises, and realized that since he was in his house, on his bed, then his cousin and his friends must have saved him.

That did not bode well.

Oh, he was glad _someone_ cared, but how they had found him... they must have seen the fight, and even if they had not, there would be tons of questions to answer. He sighed exasperatedly, resigned to answer some tough questions.

=-==---=;D

Kuwabara had left briefly (the bathroom had been calling), and now was reentering Jack's room. He noticed, with strong relief, that the boy was sitting up on his own, and looking around (well, at him now). He smiled, showing Jack that he was not a threat, and sat down to talk to him.

"So, how ya' doin' kid?" he asked.

"I'm not a kid", the huffy response came, "but I am doing fine."

Kuwabara's smile widened, the kid had some spunk, "well, do ya' think I ought to go get the others, 'cuz we have some questions for ya'."

The kid nodded grimly, he had probably expected this, after all of the stuff that had happened.

=--===---=

hmm... I feel like I didn't make this long enough, but I've been a lazy bum lately, and it's been hard to make myself write, sorry =(

I hope you guys like this chapter though =)


	5. questions

It took some time to get together, what with having to hunt down Hiei in the forest.

When they all gathered in the room, uncomfortable silence settled, after a few moments, Kurama decided to speak.

"Jack," he paused, thinking of how to ask his question, "Who were those children? The ones that fought you, I mean"

Jack looked down, "Those were the Xiaolin warriors," he said without elaborating.

"What did they want of you?" To the next question Jack replied, "They wanted the shen gong wu..." he trailed off, "which I also desired to posses"

Yusuke asked next "What is a 'shen gong wu'?" Jack looked away, at the window, "It is an ancient Chinese artifact, one that grants you powers, I don't know what that one did, though, I didn't bother to check"

The group shared looks of realization, and Kurama was quick to say, "We need to talk for a minute," and lead his friends out of the room.

Jack stared at them in confusion as they exited, and upon some pondering, decided they must think him insane.

With a sigh of annoyance and exhaustion, he leaned back, and waited for them to return.

"D'ya think...?" Kuwabara trailed off, but everyone knew what he had meant to ask.

"Yeah," Yusuke answered, "I think he is talking about the same artifacts that we need," He cautioned a look at Kurama to see if it was a safe assumption, receiving a nod from the red head.

"But somethin' ain't right" Kuwabara mumbled, the others sent him questioning looks, "Koenma said 'children', not one kid, was on the right side, an' that they knew martial arts, right?"

Collectively, their eyes widened, "You don't mean..." Yusuke trailed off, before starting again, "Well, too bad for Koenma then, I'm not about to run off on a kid that needs our help."

He looked at the others, awaiting a response.

"Me neither," Kuwabara said, Kurama looked unsure, "We have a mission to complete..."

Hiei didn't particularly care, he went where Kurama went.

Kurama continued, after a brief pause, "I don't know what I'm doing, I'll figure that out later, when we're done questioning Jack"

Kurama couldn't care for a person this quickly, yes, he cared that a person who happened to be his cousin was getting hurt, but he didn't care on a personal level yet.

And, if he chose to leave, Yusuke and Kuwabara had given him reassurance that they would take care of Jack, right...?

-=-=-=-=---+jgaS30)8-

Jack turned his head slightly as his cousin and his friends entered the room, almost hoping that they would not accuse him of being crazy. When they didn't say anything, though, he began to get nervous, he soon saw that Yusuke was glaring at Kurama and Hiei, and Kuwabara just wasn't looking at them. He hoped there hadn't been a dispute of some sort, but he couldn't really say there hadn't been, in any case.

Kurama seemed oblivious to the looks on their faces, and immediately began to talk to Jack.

"How did that odd thing occur with the ground?" he asked, the reply he received was "remember the part with the magic objects? Well, in order to obtain them when there are two people is to have a Xiaolin Showdown. It makes a challenge, depending on what those monks say, and one person gets the item while the other... just, sort of..."

At this, Jack shrugged, looking away from them, and felt pretty miserable. The others didn't know how to comfort him, so they just stood there uselessly.

Kurama decided to ask a different question, in order to get rid of the tense atmosphere, "How often do they appear?"

"Sometimes, they pop up every day, sometimes, it takes weeks"

Jack hadn't looked up yet, staring at the floor.

"Are you often hurtthis much?" Jack looked at his wounds, and gave a noncommittal shrug, now glaring at the injuries.

"_Jack._" The mentioned boy refused to look up, and Kuwabara was actually the one to grab his chin and lift his face up. Jack still had his eyes down-turned, "_**Jack.**_" Kurama almost demanded.

"Fine! Yes! They always beat me up to this point! I actually get worse sometimes! I've got scars all over to prove it! I'm never strong enough to win! There. Be happy!" Jack yelled in frustration, he then focused his eyes back to the ground.

Kurama and Hiei slowly left the room (Kurama was having a tough time thinking up any more questions), while Yusuke and Kuwabara stayed.

Kuwabara and Yusuke just stared at the angry boy, not sure how to fix the situation, but Kuwabara decided to take a stab at it.

He reached out, and patted Jack on the back lightly, and spoke "No need ta' get all mad, we'll teach ya' how ta' beat 'em."

"Yeah," Yusuke said, "in no time we'll have ya' in shape ta' beat em'!"

Jack looked up at them with one eyebrow raised, in truth though, he had no idea how to react, he had never been treated like this.

"Thanks, I suppose," he murmured.

"Hiei, do you think we should go?"

A grunt was all he received in answer.

"Hiei, I need your opinion to make a decision."

"I go where you go."

Unhelpful, as usual.

"But, I believe that if you are even contemplating it, then you shouldn't be here."

That was a lot from Hiei, and he knew that he was right.

"Alright then," Kurama said, "we'll go."

A/N: jeez... I'm sorry about the short, annoying chapters that I'm throwing at you guys, but I'm trying to continue, which is something I haven't really done in the past with fanfics.

I hope this was worth reading, if not, sorry for the waste of time.


	6. leaving

Jack sat silently after all the others had left; he sat there for hours, staring off into space. He was tired, in all honesty, the past few days had been rather rough, and he just needed to take a break. A break from thinking, working on machines, and the other various things he did within his days.

The Xioalin kids had all been there for almost two years, and in those years they got stronger and stronger, while Jack stayed almost exactly the same. He remained small, got only a little taller, and lost some weight from over working himself. They grew, got stronger, they practiced new moves, and learned new tactics.

Jack learned virtually nothing in the way of fighting, and without a mentor like they had, he didn't have anyone to help him learn to fight or make him sleep and eat.

When the warriors got stronger, they didn't mind rubbing it in or beating him worse then they did before. As the time had passed, the fights got more vicious, he got hurt more and more, and the Xioalin guys didn't see fit to help him in any way.

He hadn't been sleeping or eating hardly at all, he had been working himself to the bone, even with the beatings. He had been leading himself into a dark future or none at all. He had almost been there when his mother left him the note. He felt no gratitude, but he acknowledged that his cousin and his friends had more then likely saved him.

They probably didn't even know how much they had done for him just by being there for him to cook for, that had been what kept him eating, and he stopped working when he cooked, so it was a bit like taking a brake.

He laughed bitterly, so much for not thinking.

Well, since he was already thinking, he mind as well ponder what he had said earlier.

He didn't really know what had pushed him to be so honest, he supposed it was just that he was honest by nature, lying wasn't his thing. He still wanted to smack himself about all the information he had let out, though. Oh well, there was nothing he could do about the past, what was done was done.

He sighed and leaned against his pillow.

-=-=-=7—0==0-

Kurama took out the communicator in his room, and stared at it as if it could tell him the answers to all of his questions, then sighed, pushing the green button that would allow him to speak with Koenma.

A chubby, childish face appeared on the small screen of the compact communicator.

"Kurama," he nodded respectfully, "What have you found out on the artifacts?"

"We've discovered that they are called shen gong wu, and we've found the group with the most of them."

Koenma nodded, and Kurama continued, "Hiei and I will be going to said group's temple tonight."

That brought a frown to the chubby cheeks, "Kuwabara and Yusuke aren't accompanying you?" Kurama pondered his answer for a moment.

"They are staying at my cousins house to watch over him for awhile."

Koenma stared searchingly at him, but when there was no further comment, he murmured "Alright, Kurama."

"What should Hiei and I do when we have gotten there?"

"I suppose you should advise them on what 'shen gong wu' they should and shouldn't use, watch for dangerous ones."

With that, the screen went black, and Kurama stared at it for a while before putting it away.

-=-=4-=-=-=

The next morning, Jack slept until noon, unaware that his cousin and Hiei had left in the night.

Downstairs, it was a different story for Yusuke and Kuwabara, the half demon sat at the table, scowling, the human paced about.

"Kuwabara, stop it, we knew it was going to happen anyway, right?"

Kuwabara flopped down into a chair, "Yeah, but y'know, I hoped that he wouldn't…" He ran a hand through his hair, while Yusuke's glower grew.

"Should we wake 'im up Yusuke?"

"Naw, the kid needs as much sleep as he can get."

-=-==-0=-=-

Kurama hoped with all of his being that he was making the right decision and that Yusuke and Kuwabara could really help Jack.

He thought back on all that had happened in the previous days, and then found himself hoping also that His friends and Jack would forgive him.

He pulled himself away from the entire topic mentally, and brought himself to the present, in which Hiei walked beside him, and he was headed for the Xiaolin Temple. They walked softly, their steps not creating any noise as they walked easily up the mountain before them.

They walked without words; after all, they didn't need any for their current task. As they reached the top, Kurama could see the temple mot far from where they were.

When they reached the temple, they were greeted by the four young monks from before, standing in defensive positions behind an elderly man. The man sternly gazed upon them, "What are you doing here?" he asked. Kurama glanced at Hiei, who returned his gaze, the redhead then sighed and stepped forward slightly, "We are here on behalf of the spirit world to give the Xiaolin warriors guidance."

The mans eyes widened in recognition, before he bowed politely to them, "I apologize for our lack of hospitality, you are welcome to come in our temple."

Kurama nodded softly, not completely sure how to react to this, and followed the man into the gates, the confused warriors trailing after.

The man began to speak again, but this time in a kind tone, "What are you here to guide my students with?"

"We're here to watch over the shen gong wu they are using, some of them have affects that Koenma believes to be far too taxing on the world and it's inhabitants"

The elderly man nodded, giving a look of understanding.

The girl from before broke into the conversation with "Aren't you on the Heylin side? And Jack is your cousin isn't he?"

Hiei spoke before Kurama had the chance to "I don't see how that could matter, _ningen."_

The girl glared angrily, before huffing and looking away.

Kurama smiled softly at Hiei, glad that his friend had spoken for him.

They followed the man into the grass, and they stopped just a few steps away from the buildings, the man turned and smiled at them. "I feel introductions are necessary" He motioned for the young ones to come to him, then said "I'm Master Fung"

The large blond boy spoke, "I'm Clay" he said simply.

Next the small yellow one "I'm Omi" he said, smiling largely at them.

The brown haired boy said plainly "I'm Raimundo"

The last was the girl, who glared at the ground as she hissed "Kimiko"

The two nodded, then Kurama spoke "I'm Shuichi" Then, seeing as Hiei was glaring darkly at them said "and this is my friend Hiei"

"Well, "said Fung "Now that that's out of the way, you two can have the two mats in the first room to the right" then he pointed to a building, "In there."

Kurama smiled softly and said "Thank you", before heading in that direction, Hiei behind him.

Just as he entered, he heard a "_What's the 'spirit world'?"_ from Kimiko.

-=-=4-=3-=-=-

Jack opened his left eye tiredly; his right hurt, and then slowly pushed himself up. He shoved the blanket off, then moved so that his legs hung off the edge of the bed as he sat there and held his head.

He hurt all over again, but he ignored it, and got up carefully, before stumbling out the door and toward the stairs.

He leaned hard on the railing as he went downstairs, holding his stomach as he went. Then he went through the living room, and into the kitchen, spotting Kuwabara and Yusuke at the table.

He shuffled over and collapsed into a seat, he then looked at the others, saying "Hi guys,"

He looked around, "What time is it? And where are Shuichi and Hiei?"

Yusuke and Kuwabara looked glumly at each other, before the larger one spoke "It's around noon, and they left."

Jack gave him a confused look, "Left?" Yusuke nodded, "Yeah" he said, "They left for the Xiaolin temple." Jack's eyes widened.

He then looked at the floor, "Are they joining them?" The two older one looked at each other before Yusuke turned back to Jack and nodded. Jack sighed, before putting his head in his hands, "I should have known." He whispered. Things like this always happened to him, everyone left him one way or another, he was always betrayed, eventually the pity for his pathetic existence wore off and they would get sick of him. He was always abandoned.

"If you guys want to go, and be with them, I don't mind" he said softly, if they didn't leave him now, it would hurt worse when they betrayed him.

"No!" Yusuke yelled, standing up from his chair in a rush, Kuwabara following, "We aren't leaving you Jack!"

Jack didn't bother to even raise his head, so Yusuke stomped over, lifting up Jack's head, looking at the miserable face, and spoke again, "We aren't going to leave you, Jack."

He looked into Jack's eyes, and didn't let his face fall until he gave a shaky nod. The two older boys sat down, the three of them sitting in silence.

-=-=-6-=-=-=

The next few days passed uneventfully for both groups, the Xiaolin monks doing their usual thing, while Jack was learning how to fight.

Jack dodged the hit, throwing himself under it, turning around and giving a hard punch to the back of Yusuke's neck. A laugh met the hit, "C'mon Jack, you can do better then that" he then turned around, and got Jack in the stomach with his fist. Jack was sent flying, and managed to right himself in the air so that he landed on his feet. He dug his feet into the ground to slow himself down, then charged at Yusuke. Yusuke didn't move at all. Jack soon reached him, and threw a feint punch, then moved as if he was going to go around Yusuke's left side, and instead fell to the right, and delivered five kicks to Yusuke's back before falling into a defensive position.

Yusuke actually stumbled a bit, before turning to the younger boy and knocking his feet out from under him.

He then helped Jack up, smiling at him, and patting him on the back, saying "Good job"

Jack gave a small smile as they walked into the house and grabbed a snack, Kuwabara following after. However, just as they were about to all sit down, an alarm went off from the basement.

Jack made an odd growling noise, then said "C'mon guys, let's go get the wu." He didn't summon his Jack-o-bots though, he didn't even grab his jacket, just his goggles, which he let hang around his neck. He then went to the basement to check the location of the shen gong wu.

As he came up, he said, "It's on the nearest mountain" he then lead them out of the house and in that direction.

-=-=-=2=-=-=-

AN: Hi, hope you enjoyed this chapter, I feel like it's a lot better then the past few chapters, anywho, thank you for reading!


	7. Authors Note, Read please!

A/N: I'm sorry for not having continued for a long time, and I was wondering if you guys would mind me redoing this fic.

I didn't start off with a plot, or even get one later on, and was going in blind with no idea where I wanted to take it. I think it'd be better if I planned it out, and tried rewriting it to make it better.

I really would appreciate any ideas you may have, and what you think I should do, either continue this or restart completely.

Thanks for reading this far, reviewing, and telling me what you think! I really hope I didn't let you guys down though.

So, please tell me what you guys want me to do!


	8. Authors Note two

A/N: Well, I've been told by one reviewer to continue this, but I've had six people (some of them my friends who have read it, but don't have accounts) tell me to do what I want with it.

I think it would be better if I redid it, and I thank you all very much for telling me your thoughts. And I apologize to the reader who wanted me to continue; I just think redoing it would give the idea more justice.

I'll be posting the rewrite as Where Grass Is Greener.

Thanks!


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